The cell phone and Ethernet are 40 years old this year and both are omnipresent in our digital lives. Like many elements of today`s consumer tech, Ethernet was developed at XEROX PARC and then commercialized elsewhere. Ethernet came to the PC in 1982, with a bandwidth cap of 10 Megabits per second; most consumers and small businesses are now operating at 1Gb/s speeds. That will change soon to 10Gb/s, if the NETGEAR XS708E 10GbE Switch is any indication. Its eight RJ-45 ports are designed to interface with common Cat 6 wiring, and it also has one SFP+ port to handle fiber optic connections. Benchmark Reviews brings you an inside look at a break-out offering in the NETGEAR ProSAFE Plus Switch line, which brings 10GbE connectivity down to the masses."